Ohio truck theft ring hit Jonesville in December

JONESVILLE — For the last two months, Jonesville truck driver Terry Bumpus and his boss Dexter Varino couldn’t get an answer to a simple question; Who stole their semi truck?

On Thursday afternoon, FBI agents busted an elaborate tractor-trailer theft ring that stretched from Ohio into Indiana and Michigan, including the theft of Varino’s truck. With news of the arrests made public, Bumpus is finally able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing the answer to his question.

“I was very happy. I hope they get 20 years out of this. I had almost $3,000 worth of personal stuff in that truck,” Bumpus said. “I was sick for a couple days after this.”

On a Monday morning in December of last year, Bumpus was preparing for another week of work. He was on his way to the Pink Panther diner in Jonesville to pick up his semi truck and hit the road. Once Bumpus got there however, he found out his truck had been stolen along with everything he needed to do his job.

Bumpus called the authorities, who came out and filed a report for what appeared to be an isolated incident.

It was anything but.

“Ohio authorities contacted us on Dec. 20 and then I contacted them and this whole ring involved a person of interest and was a several month investigation,” said Hillsdale County Sheriff Detective Lance Benzing.

On Dec. 17 HCS was called to the Pink Panther at 5:30 a.m. for a report of a stolen 2006 Peterbilt semi truck with a 2013 Mack Trailer flatbed. Bumpus said he parked the semi at the restaurant the night before and when he returned the next morning, it was no longer there.

“Every time I’m home, I live here in Jonesville, and when I’m home that’s where the truck parks,” Bumpus said.

The truck and the flatbed are valued at nearly $100,000. The trailer was empty at the time, but all of Bumpus’ personal items were in the cab — including the accumulation of seven years' worth of materials associated with his job.

Thankfully, there was full coverage on the truck.

Finding out what exactly happened became a difficult process as anytime the pair contacted HCS, they were unable to get any updates on the investigation. Because it was federal investigation, the HCS couldn’t say much, if anything.

“We didn’t know — we just had no clue until we heard about (the bust),” Bumpus said. “They just told us it was being investigated. We kind of figured it was under investigation because we could never really get any answers.”

After reporting the incident, HCS were made aware of the ring and Ohio investigators were able to confirm the person of interest in the case was in the Jonesville area on the night in question.

Page 2 of 2 - Benzing said the HCS cooperated with investigators throughout the process

Raids were conducted on numerous locations in the Toledo area Thursday morning, resulting in the arrests. The string of thefts started in September and ended in December of last year according to the FBI. It is estimated the value of the stolen property is around $2 million.

The crime ring appears to be a family affair as The Toledo Blade is reporting Michael Wymer, 54; Michael Deutsch, 37; Gary Wymer, 55; Terrance Wymer, 28, and Shawn Wymer, 27, were arrested and charged with unlawful transport of stolen property in inter-state commerce.

The FBI also said there could be many more suspects and accomplices out there and are encouraging those individuals to turn themselves in.